Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced £340 million in funding to tackle homelessness, with Greater Manchester receiving nearly £17 million as part of a national push to end rough sleeping by Christmas. The funding is intended to acquire suitable homes, identify those most in need, and provide housing and support without delay.
Funding details and national context
The government said the funding will provide 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 long-term rough sleepers over a five-year period. Greater Manchester is receiving £16,955,174 as part of a £37 million package for the North West. The latest annual national statistics, published in February, estimated that 4,793 people were sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 in England – a new record and the fourth annual increase in a row.
Speaking during a visit to Alex’s Place homeless centre in Newcastle, Burnham issued a “rallying call” for local authorities, charities, businesses and communities to help deliver his ambition. He is attempting to replicate the approach taken during the coronavirus pandemic, when the ‘Everyone In’ scheme saw thousands of rough sleepers across England brought indoors.
Greater Manchester’s track record
When Burnham campaigned to become mayor in 2017, he vowed to end rough sleeping in the region by 2020. The following year, he launched A Bed Every Night (ABEN), creating emergency accommodation and support for people sleeping rough and donating 15 per cent of his mayoral salary to the scheme. More than 14,000 people have gone through the scheme since it started in 2018. The number of people recorded as sleeping rough in Greater Manchester fell from 268 in 2017 to 90 in 2021, but figures for 2025 recorded 197 people sleeping rough – though Greater Manchester Combined Authority stressed this remains below the 268 peak in 2017.
Bev Craig, new mayor of Greater Manchester, welcomed the announcement, saying the funding will be used to offer people ‘wraparound care and mental health support they need’. She added: “No one should be left to sleep rough on our streets and I’m proud that the approach we’ve pioneered here in Greater Manchester is now going to be rolled out to other regions. We stand ready to share what we’ve learned so that even more people have the chance to rebuild their lives and have a safe, secure place to call home.”
Charity and community perspectives
Pub landlady Pauline Town, from Ashton-under-Lyne, told the Manchester Evening News that the problem is too complex to completely eradicate. “Instead of [Burnham saying] everybody is going to be in by Christmas, maybe it should be, everybody has an offer,” she said. She believes ABEN has been a ‘game changer’ but said a long-term solution is to have more affordable one-bed flats for those on low incomes. “In Ashton now you’re looking at at least £950 plus. If one landlord puts the price up they all do,” she said. “It’s really difficult because there’s not enough social housing and private tenancy is pricing people out. There’s a cost-of-living crisis so I know landlords also need to pay their mortgages.”
Mustard Tree, based in Manchester, worked with Burnham throughout his time as mayor. The charity praised his record, saying rough sleeping was lower now than when he first came into office in 2017. It said the latest funding must go towards keeping people in their own homes, building more social and affordable housing, piloting local rent caps and promoting lower rents. Jo Walby, CEO of Mustard Tree, said: “We are dependent on national factors such as housing supply, good growth, opportunities for young people and support for cost of living pressures. We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse this crisis through the instruction of the Prime Minister, leadership of the new Greater Manchester Mayor and all working together across sectors to achieve this common goal.”
Hendrix Lancaster, founder of Coffee4Craig, said more money won’t solve the problem. While he welcomes the funding, he believes there needs to be a ‘solidly collaborative approach’. “It’s easy to say we need more social housing, temporary accommodation or keep throwing money at a problem, but it’s not necessarily going to be the answer,” he added. He said there needs to be somewhere people can access round-the-clock services, and more needs to be put in place for early intervention, looking at wider systems from education and prisons to addiction services. He also praised ABEN, saying waiting times have improved considerably, but added: “It’s not consistent. It’s hit and miss. In essence it’s absolutely fantastic and the people who are delivering the service are fully committed to it, but there’s so much bureaucracy.”
Government response and next steps
Burnham has acknowledged that not every rough sleeper will accept an offer of accommodation ‘for their own reasons’ and has admitted that the millions being announced may not be enough on their own. The government says the latest funding will help local areas provide more than 1,000 settled homes over the next three years, alongside intensive wraparound support. It is also publishing guidance designed to help councils mobilise quickly and provide a consistent route off the streets this winter, with particular emphasis on women experiencing rough sleeping, who may face heightened risks of violence, abuse and exploitation.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the government was moving ‘urgently from words to action’. She said: “This funding will help thousands of people leave the streets behind, move into secure homes and get the support they need to rebuild their lives. Working alongside councils, mayors and charities, we're backing local areas to tackle rough sleeping at its roots, giving people the security, dignity and opportunity they deserve, and restoring hope to those who have been let down for far too long.”
Burnham is due to host a ‘first of its kind’ national summit this autumn, bringing together leaders from business, finance, charities, health, faith communities and elsewhere to discuss what role they can play in ending rough sleeping. A further £8.4 million is being allocated to the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, taking total funding announced for 100 projects to £47 million over three years. For Greater Manchester, the challenge is now turning the £17 million into something that lasts beyond the funding announcement – ensuring people do not end up back on the streets as they have done previously.
